Probably Civilization V (with the difficulty set below maximum so you’re not too restricted and don’t have to play so sweaty). I like just seeing whatever the Planet Simulator map spits out, putz around with half my brain turned off, trying out niche civs and basically just playing it like solitaire.
I don’t play it even every week anymore, but when I need some distraction and relaxation that’s a comfort game go-to.
Haven’t watched the video but wasn’t Throne of Bhaal originally intended to be BG3 and was later downscaled to an expansion because of reduced time and resources?
Sounds like what I’ve been doing, too. Finally found a badger yesterday for the satchel but still on the hunt for some other assorted animals. Sadly I think I’m locked out of some stuff because I killed the legendary bear as part of the story quest so the pelt despawned before I unlocked the trapper. Currently trying to plow through some gambler challenges for the gear, it might actually kill my enthusiasm though. And I’d like to combine them with some Bandit pieces but I’ve been hesitant because I am playing high honor.
The White Arabian seems great, im personally going back and forth between the Warped Brindle Arabian and the Tigerstriped Bay Mustang (was hell to acquire) for horses.
I loved my playthrough of Elden Ring - and I’m happy I got to play it at launch and participate in the zeitgeist and discovery of it at the point where the wikis weren’t even populated etc - but I’m not super keen to play the DLC. Finishing the game was definitely a little more of a relief that it was over than I would have hoped to feel. It didn’t help that the last boss is terrible, so the game kind of ends on a sour note.
Also, FromSoft DLCs are always much harder than the base game. I already didn’t enjoy what they did with Malenia, if they try to top her in the DLC I honestly just can’t see myself having any fun.
Still strolling through my snails pace playthrough of RDR2, haven’t left chapter 2 yet and mostly been doing side stuff, hunting fishing and completing challenges. Looking for a damn badger and beaver but can’t find either anywhere.
I also wish RDR2 had the same fishing minigame as FFXV. Not that it’s terrible, but I wish it had the same depth. That game had the best fishing minigame I’ve played, almost worth the price of admission for that alone.
Yeah the game never even hints at any combo system, though to be fair they never explain any mechanics (I guess in pursuit of immersion).
This video is not completely exhaustive, but goes through a fair amount of combos. In general, you can always interrupt a combo after the 1st, 2nd or 3rd attack with the melee button to punch/kick and follow up with a different two-attack combo. The finisher where Senua impales the enemy and pushes off with her foot can also be interrupted and extended by pressing light attack three times (which I don’t think the video covers).
I didn’t completely hate the find-the-symbol puzzles but they were definitely not particularly interesting. I think moments like the >!blind trial!< were where the game really shone. >!Navigating purely off of sound and controller vibration and avoiding the monsters in the dark!< is an experience that will stay with me for a while.
Completely agreed about the linear structure, I always thought it was the success of Witcher 3 that started an open-world craze, but regardless of where it came from it definitely ended up negatively impacting some games.
In general I think Ninja Theory did an amazing job at hiding the budget constraints. Another great example is the use of superimposed footage of live action instead of attempting to render characters and doing it poorly. The overall length of the game is also a part of this; they didn’t attempt to stretch too far and spread too thin but instead just made something brief but with the best quality they could. The game is short, but it didn’t feel too short. It felt perfectly measured for the story they were trying to tell.
More RDR2 this week, still haven’t finished Chapter 2 as there is just an unbelievable amount of stuff to be distracted by. Apart from further fiddling with some mods I’ve just been enjoying my time hunting and fishing and completing challenges, events and side missions.
I might need to lay off the pursuit of the challenges as they seem extremely grindy and I don’t want to burn out before I finish the story, but so far it’s not started to wear me down and I’ve been enjoying just playing poker with the boys and whatnot.
I played through Hellblade recently and mostly loved it. I do however, agree that the quality of the hidden object puzzles vary a lot and there are a few too many of them. Sometimes it feels more like padding than enjoyable content.
I also wish the combat was slightly more demanding and involved. They have an amazing foundation with fantastic animations and a surprisingly robust combo system that just never actually demands you to explore its depths and nuances. The focus mechanic is also a little too powerful, which again doesn’t encourage you to utilise the combo system. More enemy/boss variety and more refined enemy movements would also be preferable, but they were working on a small budget so it’s understandable. It feels like they were so close to something amazing, and that makes me very hopeful for the sequel.
As much as I’d love for more actual, true DE content, I’m actually happy this expansion is cancelled. Doing a content release without Kurvitz, Hindpere and Rostov would just be wrong, and would create an awkward situation for new players in the future. If we can’t have more real DE content, I’m happy the existing game at least gets to remain as an intact monolith rather than be diluted by additions outside the original writers’ vision and without the inimitable art of Rostov.
Alternating between playingRDR2 for the first time and fine-tuning the mods I’ve got installed. Really enjoying my time so far, but Jesus this game is just impossibly large. I’ve got something like 40 hours in the game and still haven’t unlocked fishing. I get that they don’t want to overwhelm you with mechanics but gimme my damn rod already!
I’m super impressed with the visuals, too. I guess it’s no coincidence it still is used for benchmarks. I finally have a PC capable of maxing it and it puts many more recent releases to shame despite being over 5(!) years old now.
I also wish I hadn’t gotten the ending spoiled for me way back. It’s still a great experience, but I’m sad I’ll never get to experience the impact it would have had if I was not spoiled.
Now does RDR2 need these mods? Of course not, it’s perfectly fine out of the box. But with all the great games out there I’ve yet to play (existing and upcoming), I probably will only play a game of this length once. Might as well tweak it to my tastes to get as good of an experience as I can.
I finished Hellblade and am feeling ready for the sequel that’s coming soon. It wasn’t a perfect game, but I really appreciate what they tried for and I think a lot of it was successful. The visual and (especially) audio design was stellar and the narrative is really interesting and touching and the presentation was mostly great. The trials were my favourite part, in particular the blind one where you have to navigate by sound and controller vibration and ignore the scary enemies. I almost wish they went all in on that sort of thing. Or if not, that they tuned the combat encounters differently. I actually quite enjoyed the combat system but there wasn’t much of a reason to fully explore its nuances.
After that, I finally started Red Dead Redemption 2, which is my current game. So far it’s mostly living up to the off-the-charts hype, though as usual I had to tweak some things to taste through mods (yes even on a first playthrough). I’m really enjoying it so far and can see myself either spending 400 hours on this game or get completely burned out (as I was by Ghost of Tsushima). Curious to see which it will be. I also sadly got the ending spoiled for me (way back) and I’m really sad about it because I can already tell the impact it would have had on me and I’m deeply sad I’m never going to get to experience that.
I think I read about that remake. Did they also change the soundtrack or am I tripping? I loved Mafia 1 back in the day, and the Django Reinhardt songs in the original were iconic.